Butter is a huge part of many people’s diets. Kerrygold butter is a favorite among most. Yet for Wisconsin residents, buying Kerrygold grass-fed butter within state lines just became illegal.

Bulletproof coffee has become a huge dietary trend over the last few years. It is made by blending medium-chain triglyceride oil, a more concentrated form of coconut oil, and butter together with coffee in order to create a thicker beverage with a consistency similar to that of a frothy cafe latte.

People who live for this potent coffee prefer using grass-fed butter because it contains optimal levels of healthy fat.

Grass-fed butter is more common in Europe than in America. Kerrygold, the Irish brand of grass-fed butter, has been a staple in the high fat diet community because it can be purchased almost anywhere from health food grocers like Whole Foods, to your local neighborhood grocery chain.

However, this grass-fed gold is now being ripped from the shelves of Wisconsin grocery stores because of an archaic state law. Consumers are not happy.

Resurrecting an Outdated Law

In 1970, a law was passed that required that all butter intended for commercial purposes within Wisconsin first be put before a panel of “experts” to grade the product based on a set of state standards. This law, which had largely been forgotten for at least two decades, has now become an issue due to the rise of high fat diets.

For those who subscribe to high fat lifestyles like the Paleo, Primal Blueprint, or Ketogenic diets, butter usage is strongly encouraged as long as the butter is grass-fed. This has caused a rise in the market demand for grass-fed butter to skyrocket over the last several years, alarming Wisconsin food bureaucrats who cannot stand to see a rule being broken, no matter how arbitrary it may be.

Since the company Kerrygold is based in Ireland, its products do not go through the same regulatory processes as American products. Without an official American-issued quality grade, Wisconsin is refusing to allow this butter to be sold in its grocery stores despite high consumer demand.

Now in Wisconsin, if Kerrygold butter is put on the shelves, store owners will be threatened with hefty fines and even jail time.

Butter Bootlegger

Jean Smith, a Wisconsin resident and fan of both bulletproof coffee and tea, has become one of the most outspoken voices on this subject.

Smith has been forced to make frequent trips across state lines to Nebraska. She comes back with a suitcase filled with her beloved grass-fed butter.

Butter Police

The “butter police” in Wisconsin are taken very seriously.

The regulations on how butter should be inspected and assessed before making it into store shelves is several pages long and includes 32 “quality points” that each butter specimen must meet before gaining state approval.

Anyone caught bypassing this process is now subject to a $1,000 fine and up to six months of jail time.

Some Wisconsin residents, Jean Smith included, believe that this “butter policing” issue with Kerrygold has more to do with protecting the American dairy industry and less to do with protecting consumers.

In states like Wisconsin, who are well known for their dairy products, the dairy industry has a lot of pull with local legislators. The pushback against foreign butter is another example of state and private entities coming together to form a more cronyist union. Instead of allowing for a free and open market, the government is protecting an American industry from having to innovate and compete with foreign markets.

Kerrygold was completely ignorant of its lawbreaking and is currently working with the state in order to put its butter back on market shelves. The process is not expected to be an easy one as Wisconsin is the only state with these strict regulations. The company is expected to alter its entire quality assurance process in order to appease the dairy industry.

Ariana Marisolis a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. She is an avid nature enthusiast, gardener, photographer, writer, hiker, dreamer, and lover of all things sustainable, wild, and free. Ariana strives to bring people closer to their true source, Mother Nature. She graduated The Evergreen State College with an undergraduate degree focusing on Sustainable Design and Environmental Science.